Abstract

Introduction: Research in recent years has explored the vocabulary size (lexical breadth) of bilingual children, but less is known about the richness of bilingual word knowledge (lexical depth), and about how knowledge of words in the two languages interact. This study explores how bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction in each language may modulate crosslinguistic influence (CLI) between the languages of bilingual kindergarten children, focusing on CLI of lexical knowledge, and which factors modulate performance.Methods: Forty-one typically developing English-Hebrew bilingual children (M = 64.63 months) participated. A bilingual adaptation of Story Champs narrative intervention program (Spencer and Petersen, 2012) was used to deliver vocabulary instruction in separate blocks of home language (HL) and school language (SL) sessions. Different intervention words were targeted in each language, but the children were tested on all target words in both languages. Lexical knowledge was assessed with a definition task four times throughout the study: prior to intervention, after each intervention block, and 4–6 weeks later. Learner characteristics (chronological age, age of onset of bilingualism and length of exposure) and proficiency in each language (standardized tests, familiarity with the vocabulary introduced in the intervention at baseline) were examined as possible modulators of performance.Results: Children showed growth in lexical breadth and depth in their HL/English after HL intervention and in lexical breadth in the SL/Hebrew following SL intervention, with CLI for semantic depth observed via a qualitative analysis, but not quantitatively. Better HL/English performance was correlated with later AoB (and shorter SL exposure) and higher HL language proficiency scores. Children with higher HL/English proficiency responded better to the SL/Hebrew intervention, gaining more than those with lower English proficiency. Children with SL/Hebrew vocabulary dominance at the outset of the study also gained more from the HL/English intervention. No correlations were found between learner characteristics and SL performance.Discussion: The current study indicates that bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction may be efficacious for improving the lexical breadth and depth of bilingual kindergarten children. It suggests that CLI may enhance bilingual children’s language learning success, and points to the importance of strengthening both languages of bilingual children.

Highlights

  • Research in recent years has explored the vocabulary size of bilingual children, but less is known about the richness of bilingual word knowledge, and about how knowledge of words in the two languages interact

  • The number of progress monitoring (PM) is reported for each language in each group (N = number of children multiplied by four excluding missing children)

  • In order to further explore the effect of bilingual narrative intervention (BINARI) that includes explicit vocabulary instruction on the lexical breadth and depth of the HL and school language (SL) lexicons of English-Hebrew preschool children, we present the impact of the intervention on breadth and depth, comparing the experimental and control groups (Research Question 1)

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Summary

Introduction

Research in recent years has explored the vocabulary size (lexical breadth) of bilingual children, but less is known about the richness of bilingual word knowledge (lexical depth), and about how knowledge of words in the two languages interact. This study explores how bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction in each language may modulate crosslinguistic influence (CLI) between the languages of bilingual kindergarten children, focusing on CLI of lexical knowledge, and which factors modulate performance. Bilingual children may transfer semantic information between languages (ForoodiNejad and Paradis, 2009; Goodrich et al, 2016) as they gradually learn translation equivalents (Pearson et al, 1999). Most studies of vocabulary intervention have investigated effects on breadth of vocabulary (number of entries in a person’s lexicon), without studying growth in lexical depth (the amount of information about a word). Intervention in preschool years targeting high level vocabulary in both languages may contribute to academic success and promote additive bilingualism, in which both languages may develop. Beyond the practical implications of this study, exploring the CLI of semantic knowledge as a result of intervention is expected to contribute to understanding the organization of the lexical-semantic networks in this population

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